Sensex, Nifty off to a steady start led by TCS and SBI

The Indian stock market caught up with the global market up trend as Asian stocks edged up to fresh 19-month highs on Thursday after a Wall Street rally on the back of as strong US data.

At 9.30 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 28,196, up 40.93 points while the Nifty50 was ruling at 8,737, up 13.20 points.

"The next support after 8715 would be seen at 8670 and hence, traders are advised not to create fresh short positions at current level. Rather use this dips to create fresh longs in the market," said an Angel Broking report.

Stocks in the limelight

Shares of TCS rose over 2 per cent after the company said it will consider a buyback of equity shares at its board meeting scheduled for February 20. The buyback, if approved, will be the company's first since its listing in 2004.

State Bank of India gained over 2 per cent to Rs 277 after the Cabinet cleared the merger plan of SBI its five associate banks, a step aimed at strengthening the banking sector through consolidation of PSBs.

Among the other top performers were Infosys and Sun Pharma which surged 1.75 and 1.59 per cent on the BSE respectively.

ICICI Bank and Dr Reddy's were among the top losers tripping over 2 per cent on Thursday's trade.

Global markets

At 9.40 AM (IST), China's Shanghai Composite Index was trading 0.19 per cent higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up nearly 100 points while Japan's Nikkei was trading 107 points lower.

Wall Street pushed further into record-high territory on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 notching a seven-session winning streak, helped by robust economic data and optimism that President Donald Trump will cut corporate taxes.